Ever since my blogging re-launch 6 1/2 years ago, I've developed a habit of almost never blogging and releasing posts in real time. Lately, I've been in a season of focusing on other priorities, but even in prior seasons when I've posted frequently on here, the posts were almost always scheduled. (And I say "almost" as a courtesy to allow for any instances I've otherwise forgotten, because I generally remember scheduling every post in advance.)
Today was a tragic day in the United States of America. Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah today while speaking on a college campus. Like most other freedom-loving Americans, I'm a blend of shocked and sad. Many others are angry (and rightly so), and I'm personally not quite there yet with the anger, mostly because I don't know how to process this and am going through this slowly. As far as I'm concerned, this is April 4, 1968 all over again, when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
I never knew Kirk personally, but the guy's love for Christ and for humanity touched me. Although many of the conservative voices I hear, read, and follow have stated their love for Jesus and for the Christian faith, Kirk stood out in his love for those who hated him. He was an expert at refuting arguments, but unlike others, he also knew how to do it in love.
Below is a brief text conversation I had with a friend in the faith as we processed Kirk's assassination together:
My friend: I'm shaken by the assassination. Charlie Kirk came to Christ in 4th grade ... in my hometown ... I've admired his pure courage and and intellect and have followed him closely for years. Makes me pray. Makes me ask: what other voices of truth and freedom are in [the devil]'s crosshairs to neutralize?
Me: Honestly, all of them, including us. But the enemy's attempts at neutralization may not always come in the form of murder / death. For many, all it takes is some form of distraction / temptation. Compared with even other conservative commentators I could tell that Charlie stood out for sharing the light of Christ and exemplifying the love of Christ. Even in how he debated people who hated him, he showed love and respect. The enemy took him out because he couldn't find any temptation or distraction to keep him from ministering the truth to a generation who desperately needs it. Today also goes to show how incredibly favored we were last year when God spared Mr. Trump's life, twice. The outcomes last year of those attempts were not normal, they were supernatural. Today unfortunately has gone to show that, just like in the days of the early church, some of Jesus's followers were miraculously delivered from harm, while others were sawn in two. But we soldier on.
Although I cannot at the moment substantiate this, I want to close this post by saying that Kirk was already ahead of the curve than even myself on one topic that in my opinion is not getting enough focus among conservatives and others who want to restore America: the importance of making sure the America-first focus lasts beyond 2028. If a Democrat is elected as president in 2028, all of the progress that we've already made this year (and for the next three years) goes to naught. We need someone like J.D. Vance (if not Vance himself) to have an eight-year presidency once Donald Trump's current term ends, and then at least another prominent conservative cut from the same cloth to take the leadership reigns for the next eight years after that. In 2005, I knew (even though I wasn't even conservative then!) that the United States was on the downward slope, and that was before Barack Obama had taken office. I praise God that all these evils of the left are being exposed, reversed, and completely removed... it's just that there is so much to expose, reverse, and remove!
[And if anyone is confused as to how I can be so pro-conservative politics and yet against conservative psychology, I sum it up in two answers: 1.) I can be pro-conservative psychology regarding people who were born into and raised in solid families and solid communities with solid values. It's when it comes to people who have experienced a combination of abuse, neglect, PTSD, abandonment ... and were never taught life skills ... and somehow are still expected to "get it" and be a functional (i.e. perfect) person without any real assistance. It's one thing to expect a person to "grow up;" it is entirely another thing to directly and deliberately cause that person to stumble (especially when they're young) and then still expect them to figure life out on their own). 2.) One of the many things that helped me make the switch was having my eyes opened to the sheer deception that liberals (including those I have known) have been exposed to and fallen for. The deception really is that deep, on all sorts of topics, and on all sorts of levels. Although I am pro-therapy and pro-being able to express feelings, etc., it's one thing to express feelings about personal things; it's entirely a different thing to express feelings about political figures or political events when a person has been thoroughly lied to! I previously did not like Trump at all; I came to in 2020 (before the election) when I discovered that all the things I had been told (ok, more like 98%) were lies. That really changed things for me. Feelings matter, but facts matter more. That's where I draw the distinction.]
Back to Charlie Kirk. He will be missed. I grieve not for him, because I knew he is already with Jesus in heaven. Charlie's fine now. But I grieve for us, especially for his family (he left behind a wife and two very young children), and for his numerous colleagues and professional (and other personal) connections across the country. Not to come down on other conservative commentators, because I do listen to them and value many of them, but none of them stood out in terms of their Christ-like love like Kirk did. And above all, that's how we need to remember him as we soldier on and carry his (and our) legacy forward.
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